Window systems are available in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and styles, such as, for example, French, casement, pivoting, sliding, folding, and sash windows. In conventional window systems, the window pane is enclosed by a first frame referred to herein as a “sash.” The sash may slide along tracks formed in a supporting frame or “casing,” or may be attached with hinges to the sides of the casing. Thus, the term “frame,” as used herein, may refer to a sash or a casing. The sash in a rectangular hinged window system typically includes a top horizontal rail, lower horizontal rail, vertical hanging stile and vertical locking stile. The casing similarly includes a top horizontal rail or “head,” lower horizontal rail or “sill,” and vertical side members or “jambs”.
These various frame components are typically sectioned from longer lineal material (e.g., vinyl or aluminum extrusions) into separate components that will then be aligned and attached together. Sectioning of these separate components typically includes cutting entirely through the lineal material at two opposite angles producing numerous pie-shaped scraps and other scraps and resulting in a significant cumulative waste of the lineal material.
Furthermore, excessive operator time and equipment set-up and handling are typically required to properly align and thermally join each of the joints of the sash and casing. The separate components must be loaded independently and are susceptible to improper assembly configuration, i.e., Single Hung, Horizontal Slider or Picture window which can result in waste. When the profiles are loaded, they are typically aligned using fixtures configured for the profile shape and geometry. After loading, the operator must manually step through a welder program to initiate the cycle. Once aligned, typically the components are connected by thermally welding with a single-point, two-point or four-point thermal welder at the respective corner joints. In some cases, the corner joints in these window systems are, or may be glued or chemically bonded as known in the window industry. More importantly, the fabricators in the industry use optimization software to reduce the amount of drops (cut offs) and waste however, because the fabricator is forced to segregate the lineal(s) they not only create consumable waste out of the pie cut, they also lose important material calculations that enhance the optimization process, thus reducing the algorithms and the percentages of useful product.
Another important factor in efficiency, quality and through-puts are the fact that in most every case the operator is not marrying or conjoining sibling extrusions but is joining cuts from separate batches of materials. All extrusions cure differently and have variable geometric dimensions causing inaccurate marriage between conjoined parts and reducing the overall windows performance.